


Exposed

by trollmela



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, M/M, News Media, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Rhodey Is a Good Bro, Steve Rogers Has Issues, Tony Stark Has Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2016-05-31
Packaged: 2018-06-10 11:35:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6954880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trollmela/pseuds/trollmela
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Avengers are back together, but nothing is okay. In public and with the team, Tony and Steve are coldly professional. The team at least knows that they still argue behind closed doors. Then the world finds out that Tony and Steve are having hate sex. Nothing is okay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Boss, photos taken in your hotel room in Washington DC of your encounter with Steve Rogers have just been published online and on TV."

Sometimes, Tony felt as if he was sliding deeper into a pile of shit when he had just convinced himself that things couldn't possibly get any worse.

"Show me," he ordered, his voice hoarse.

Of course the photos were just as bad as he had feared. The first one was actually the last in a series, taken after the "encounter" as Friday had put it. Steve was lying on his back, his groin blurred by too large pixels, his face turned to watch Tony stumble out of bed.

Tony wasn't sure whether a video including audio would make this publicity nightmare worse or not.

_"Jeez, Rogers, do you always have to come by the gallon?" Tony grimaced at the wet feeling between his thighs. "There is more than one reason to use condoms."_

_Steve shrugged and looked unrepentant. Tony felt like crap. Preparation had taken a backseat again, and if this turned into a rule (this was the second time they ended up fucking instead of fighting), Tony was going to be limping often. He looked almost drunk as he stumbled towards the bathroom. He hoped he'd thought to bring some salve, because he really needed it right now if he wanted to have any hope at all of hiding that ass reaming the next day._

Tony's back looked a nightmare on the surprisingly clear picture. He might just as well have been a victim of abuse. But the bruises at least, were from the workshop and unfortunate flight tests. The scratches and bloody bite mark on his shoulder were on the supersoldier, and those would put a black mark on saintly Steve Rogers in the media. And just when he'd gotten off the most wanted list and pardoned.

Tony glanced at another monitor where FRIDAY was listing headlines and reactions.

**_"Sex shock photos tear apart the Avengers facade!"_ **

Another picture was an uncensored and all too brutal show of Steve pinning Tony down on the bed. If there had been any hope of turning this into an invasion of privacy during a passionate night, that picture would thoroughly destroy it.

_Tony grunted. 240 pounds of supersoldier on his back rendered him practically immobile._

_"Fuck you!" He hissed out._

_Rogers grunted behind him and shoved in the last few inches of his prick, pulling a hoarse cry from Tony's throat._

_"I think you're the one getting fucked."_

_Tony's elbow twitched back, but Steve had a too good hold on his arms, preventing any retaliation. He gasped when Tony tightened his entrance to a degree which was painful for both of them._

**_"Captain America screwing Iron Man"_ **

You had to give the media kudos for getting to the point.

**_"Shit, that's sick!! WTF??"_ **

And internet comments. Gotta love them. Or hate them. Mostly the second.

The other pictures were pretty much of the same. One actually showed them clothed and having a shouting match.

_"What the fuck were you thinking?"_

_"Uh, language, Captain!" Tony needled._

_God, he needed a drink. The minibar was right there, but he hadn't turned away for long before Rogers grabbed him tightly by the arm and swung him back around to face him and his fuming face. Ha!_

"Tony?"

He tore his eyes away from the pictures, headlines and comments. Rhodey could be hard to read, if he wanted to. He didn't seem disappointed, so that was something. Angry maybe? Yes, but at who?

"So you saw them, too?"

"The whole team's seen them. Steve's in the gym, Sam went to tell him."

Cautiously, Rhodey came closer.

How and when exactly Tony had ended up sitting on the floor with a crushed bottle of vodka in his fist, he didn't know.

"You wanna let go there?"

Rhodey indicated his hand. Tony hadn't even registered the pain. He did now.

"Maybe later."

Rhodey had fixed Tony up countless times, so he knew where to find the nearest first aid kit. He got that out, dropped it down next to Tony and then carefully lowered himself to the ground to sit next to his friend.

"You gonna ask?" Tony spoke up when Rhodey didn't say anything.

"Would you tell?" Rhodey asked softly. "Look, I don't know what's going on between you and Steve. Those pics... I'm your friend, Tony. I wish you'd said something. I wish you'd tell me if I need to beat him up again."

_The first time was Tony's fault. Steve was crowding him, showcasing muscles like a bully he'd deny ever being. Tony's got some pretty good biceps as well, although most people don't suspect them underneath his Armani suits. They'd see them in the workshop, when he was welding in a ripped tank top, which would be classified as unsafe work clothing. Still, a metal worker's biceps didn't compare to a supersoldier._

_It was Tony who closed the small distance between them and gave Steve a bruising kiss which should have caused the vintage model to jump back and finally escape Tony's territory feeling utterly disgusted. But Rogers, stiff with surprise at first, finally narrowed his calculating gaze and kissed back just as violently. Tony's teeth drew blood, but it didn't scare Steve off._

_"You wanna do it like that, huh?" Steve's Brooklyn accent got thicker when he was angry. And apparently when he was aroused, because that right there against Tony's thigh was **not** a gun. Tony's dick, unfortunately, didn't always listen to his upper brain._

"No fighting," Tony replied monotonously. It should have been funny.

"Isn't that what you and Steve are doing? Seriously, Tony,... I don't know what to think. Tell me what's going on, _please_!"

Tony blinked.

"A lot of people got traumatized in the living room. Peter called. We didn't even know you and Steve were a thing!"

"We're not. It happened twice, okay. Once here, once at the hotel." He blew out an angry breath. "I bet it was Ross."

_"You would trust Ross after everything he did to Bruce? He's your friend, too!"_

_"I don't trust Ross, damn it! But half the world was involved in those Accords, they were going to happen one way or another! We had to get in on them if we wanted to have any chance of changing them!" He laughed hollowly. "Not that you'd listen. And as for Ross," he smiled grimly. "One of his skeletons is going to come knocking soon and then he won't be Secretary of State anymore."_

"Is it... consensual?"

Tony swallowed. "Takes two to tango. But yes. If it wasn't, FRIDAY would have pulverized him."

"Okay." Rhodey sighed. "Okay."

Thankfully he didn't ask if anything like affection was part of the game. There wasn't any.

Tony groaned and cursed as he finally opened his fist. Idly he thought that he hadn't picked glass out of his skin in a while. Rhodey readied a bandage.

The door to the office opened, and his tango dance partner strode in.

"Tony! I heard-" He stopped.

"Out, Rogers," Tony ordered lowly without looking at him.

Steve glanced at Rhodey, then back at Tony. After a moment, he turned on his heel and walked back out.

_"Don't pretend that most of the fight wasn't about Barnes."_

_Steve sighed and closed his eyes. Tony was lying face-down on the bed, but he could see Steve's face from the corner of his eyes because he was too exhausted to turn away even in protest. He really didn't want to listen to another one of Steve's lies._

_"When I found out that Bucky was alive... I couldn't think anymore. You don't know what it's like; nobody knows what it's like to wake up thinking a few days or weeks have passed and realize that it's been seventy years and everyone you knew is dead or almost dead of old age. Bucky- he was the one who stood up for me when we were kids. He was everything for so long."_

_"So you'd do anything for him."_

_Steve swallowed. "Yeah. The way he would have for me."_

_"If he hadn't been brainwashed."_

_Steve nodded again. If they hadn't just had a heavy session of hate sex, they would have been shouting by now._

_"You know, when I was on that helicarrier– I asked Hill to start shooting while me and Bucky were still on it."_

_"I know. I heard."_

_"I tried to get through to him. I think, at the end, I did."_

_"He nearly killed you."_

_"Yeah. And I didn't care if he did. I gave up. I hoped he'd remember me, but if he didn't... I didn't want to be there to see it."_

_Tony didn't say anything. Steve had hardly talked about his time before the ice with the other Avengers; Tony hadn't wanted to hear it either. Natasha and Fury had each asked him once if Steve had ever mentioned or showed signs of having a hard time. They'd all been very aware that Steve could (or should?) be having a breakdown. But he never had. At least not in front of them._

_"I was wrong to keep your parent's assassination from you. I was protecting Bucky. But you were right–you were my friend, too. I shouldn't have lied."_

_"That doesn't make it better now."_

_"I know."_

_Steve turned towards him and lifted his arm as if to hug Tony._

_"Don't," Tony warned._

_Steve froze, then backed away. "Okay."_

_"We're not okay," Tony denied, even though that hadn't been what Steve had meant._

_"I know." Steve's face was almost painful to look at, a mix of anguish and misplaced determination._

_Steve rolled off the bed and collected his clothes. As a last gesture of good will, he gathered up the bedding at the foot of the bed and pulled it up so it was within reach of Tony's hands without him having to move._

_Then he left._


	2. Chapter 2

Pepper found Steve in the gym, working out his aggression on a punching bag. He'd already destroyed three by now, and those were Stark's most recent reinforced models. Occasionally, Steve surprised even himself.

"Steve, there's going to be a press conference about the pictures tonight."

Steve wiped his forehead, turned to Pepper but avoided her eyes, and nodded.

"What's the story?"

She sighed. "The truth, or as much as you want to say."

"Did Stark say what he wanted?"

"Not really."

They didn't talk anymore. They didn't fight anymore, and they didn't fuck. It should have been an improvement.

* * *

The press conference was exactly the way Steve had feared. Lots of reporters, lots of shouted questions. Stark was sitting next to him, but he might as well have been on another continent. He was grinning his shit-eating press smile that meant nothing.

The statement the PR department had written came down to: what happens behind closed doors is private. The hotel has already received a law suit. The Avengers _will_ find out who planted the camera. (And god help them when they did.)

"Calm down, calm down," Stark said over a dozen voices. "One question at a time."

Steve couldn't tell if it was really an accident when he picked a FOX news reporter.

"Mr. Stark, Mr. Rogers, are you gay?"

Steve cleared his throat before Stark could speak first. That in itself was almost noteworthy.

"For the record-" that's none of your darn business- "I'm bisexual."

Stark looked actually surprised behind his sunglasses, then he shrugged. "What he said. I have a history with beautiful women, I have no reason to deny it. Also, I know for a fact that you've run the 'Tony Stark is gay' story before in the nineties, when I had my actual, informal coming out, if you want to call it that. I never hid it."

"What about you, Mr. Rogers?"

"I see no reason to hide it either, but my relationships are private. I prefer to keep it that way, but that choice was taken away from us. Next question." Steve picked someone at random.

"How would you describe your relationship?"

 

He had a headache by the time they called the press conference over. It didn't solve anything. Stark was good at answering questions without saying anything, and Steve had managed pretty well, too.

The other Avengers were still giving them searching looks, and Steve ignored them while ignoring Stark.

Before he knew it, Thor had taken over the vacuum he didn't realize they had left behind. Before, Steve had been the official leader, and first Tony and then Natasha had been his sounding board. Too busy ignoring and avoiding uncomfortable situations, he suddenly realized that Thor had taken over the leadership position.

In a way, that was good. Thor was a neutral party of the Avengers, something Steve and Stark weren't. He was also the one who knew best what they were preparing for. Thor was the reason the Avengers were back together. It was for the best.

The day after the press conference, Bruce called Steve down to his lab. He had returned with Natasha after Thor had called for him, but spent most of his time in the lab.

"We think we've found a way of removing Sergeant Barnes' triggers from his memory."

For a moment, Steve couldn't breathe.

"We?" He finally managed.

Bruce nodded, his brows drawn together and giving Steve a cautious look. "Tony and I."

"I didn't realize..."

How long had Tony been working on that project? Had he started after Steve's confession in DC? Or earlier?

"Let me show you," Bruce offered.

Steve couldn't get any sleep that night. Around 2 AM he gave up trying and went to the kitchen. From there, he could see light under Tony's office door. He took his time drinking a glass of milk before he knocked.

Just as he opened the door he wondered whether he should have brought coffee. Tony would appreciate it more than advice to go to bed.

Stark's eyes widened when he saw Steve. He opened his mouth, then closed it again.

"Couldn't sleep," Steve offered. Hesitantly, he sat down in the visitors' chair.

Stark quietly turned to him. There was a lot of significance in whether he gave someone his full attention or not.

"Bruce showed you his project?"

"Yes, he showed me your idea." Steve corrected him softly. "How long have you been working on it?"

Stark shrugged and glanced at one of his monitors. "I don't remember."

Steve watched him for a bit until an irritated look crossed the other man's face.

"Don't make a big deal out of it, Rogers, just don't."

Steve pushed down his irritation and just sighed. "Okay." He got up.

With a huff, Tony rubbed his forehead.

"Listen, Captain, we both made mistakes." He paused as if to give Steve time to protest. But the other man only nodded. It was the truth. "This ... _thing_ ... between us – it's not good. For anyone."

"I know. You're right." But the idea of giving it up made Steve feel almost afraid. Fighting or fucking. Where they really beyond doing anything but either of those two things?

He rounded the desk. Tony tensed almost imperceptibly; not subtly enough for Steve. He hesitated.

"Can I?" He asked.

Even though Stark could not possibly know what he was planning, he nodded. Going down to his knees seemed like a good first step. Stark was sitting, after all, and Steve had already used his height and superior strength against him often enough.

There was a wary look in Stark's eyes. Steve remembered when they had sparkled with humor at him, a wicked grin on his lips, back in the day in Avengers tower. Before the Fight. Before Ultron. Before the Winter Soldier. Before Hydra.

Steve kissed him. Softly, the way he had kissed Sharon once, the way he had wanted to kiss Peggy. The way he had always imagined kisses should be. He left it chaste, and refused to feel any lack.

"Goodbye."

It wasn't really 'goodbye' of course. Steve would still be there tomorrow, and so would Stark and everyone else. The stupid media questions would take a while to die down; hopefully some B list celebrity would offer a crotch shot ASAP.

But perhaps, tomorrow, they could leave things behind. Perhaps they could try better on working together without either fighting or fucking. Perhaps they could stop the poison they had spilled from spreading.

"You should sleep," Steve said when he was at the door, not looking behind him to see Tony's reaction.

The sound behind him before the door closed was almost a chuckle.

Steve thought that that would be it. But half an hour later he was still staring at the ceiling and hoping to get some more sleep eventually, when his door opened. Tony was wearing boxers and a t-shirt, and Steve suddenly realized that he hadn't seen him in sleep wear since the thing between them had started.

Again, Steve hesitated before pulling the covers up on one side.

"Just to sleep," Tony said.

Steve nodded, and Tony laid down next to him, a gap between them so that they wouldn't be touching. They did fall asleep like that, but it wasn't a restful sleep. Steve woke up to Tony's frantic twisting and turning and shook him awake. At five AM it was Tony who called Steve up from his nightmares, Bucky's and Tony's names on his lips.

"We're so screwed up," Tony summarized, lying on his side and watching Steve.

Steve laughed and cried.

"Shit, stop crying, I can't deal with this!" Tony beseeched him, rolling half on top of Steve until Steve's face was resting firmly against his collarbone.

Steve wasn't _really_ crying, honestly, he wasn't. He calmed himself down focusing on the sensation of Tony's morning erection against his thigh. He had never stuck around before to feel that either. On any other day, they could have had a laugh about that. Tony groaned when Steve rubbed it through his boxers.

"Let's do it differently this time," Steve suggested. "Please."

They ended up giving each other blowjobs, which was probably the most mutually pleasurable thing they'd done in a long while.

A few weeks later, they were standing next to each other again, with their team fanned out to either side behind them, and watched while Bucky was being extracted from cryo. Steve's body was tight with tension, and when Tony reached for his hand, he gripped it gratefully and breathed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The (unexpected) second chapter was originally supposed to end when Steve leaves Tony's office. But then something in me was desperate to make it an even more hopeful ending.

**Author's Note:**

> To make it clear, my intention wasn't to make Tony into the (only) victim here. I think both Tony and Steve have some major issues. Civil War broke my heart. I applaud all talented fanfic writers out there who write fix it stories.


End file.
